Roll machine for alternate cleat forming

ABSTRACT

A roll machine forms 180* cleat bends simultaneously on both opposite side edges of conveyed metal blanks. The blank edges being demarked by intervening V-notches, it will bend alternate portions and leave the intermediate portions unbent. Along the lateral edges of a conveyor are symmetrically arranged roll former machines whose spindles project vertically. Rolls on the inboard spindles have upper surfaces immediately below the plane of conveyance; those on the outboard spindles have overlaying portions. The outboard rolls at first bending station are withdrawn laterally after commencing the bending of an edge portion of a blank so that the next edge portion, following the intervening V-notch, will not be bent by it. At subsequent forming stations, which progressively bend to 180*, the outboard rolls have horizontal slots at the plane of conveyance, to pass such unbent edge portions.

United States Patent n91 McClain [111 3,815,398 [451 June 11,1974

[ ROLL MACHINE FOR ALTERNATE CLEAT FORMING [75] Inventor: Lamont R. McClain, Mehlville, Mo. [73] Assignee: Engel Industries, Inc., Ballwin, Md. [22] Filed: Jan. 19, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 325,039

52 vs. C]. 72/181 Primary ExaminerMilton S. Mehr 57 ABSTRACT A roll machine forms 180 cleat bends simultaneously on both opposite side edges of conveyed metal blanks. The blank edges being demarked by intervening V- notches, it will bend alternate portions and leave the intermediate portions unbent. Along the lateral edges of a conveyor are symmetrically arranged roll former machines whose spindles project vertically. Rolls on the inboardspindles have upper surfaces immediately below the planevof conveyance; those on the outboard spindles have overlaying portions. The outboard rolls at first bending station are withdrawn laterally after commencing the bending of an edge portion of a blank so that the next edge portion, following the intervening V-notch, 'will not be bent by it. At subsequent forming stations, which progressively bend to 180, the outboard rolls have horizontal slots at the plane of conveyance, to pass such unbent edge portrons.

12 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures v PATENTEDJUH H mm SHEEI 20? 4 3815398 manr 4 PATENfEmun 1 1 m4 Audi PA'TENFEDJIIII I I 1974 313151398 mm a 0? 4.

g F'G. 7 3/ 4' LII I i- I I x 77 F l G. 8

sTAs STA-8 g STA.7

II5v. A.c. I3V. DC. 1 #5 PULSE WIDTH RELAY CONTROL SWITCH l M/ I #6 SOLENOID TIME DELAY M0 LEFT ROLL L5 2 ALTERNATE COUNTER RESET -F \fzj, RIGH ROLL 779 I m 87 AMPLIFIER }//7l BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Rectangular sheet metal duct sections are conventionally made of either a Single metal blank, having four side portions divided by three sets of intermediate notches at which the blanks are bent, or of blanks formed with a single set of intermediate V-notches at which they are to be bent into L-shaped pieces, two of which are joined to form a duct section. In either case, their end edges which will be positioned vertically are flanged or bent back 180; this permits such edges of two adjacent duct sections to be joined with flattened C-shaped drive cleats.

The problem how to bend the l80 cleat flanges on alternate edge portions only, without affecting the flatness of the intermediate edge portions, has heretofore been an obstacle to-mass production of such duct sections. One machine for this purpose uses a series of progressive forming rolls on horizontal axes, withdrawn mechanically to avoidflanging alternate edge portions. A different type of machine which forms a cleat flange by bending is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,973,976.

A SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The objects of the present invention include: flanging sheet metal blanks by progressive bending rolls with mechanism at the first bending station to selectively avoid bending thereat; providing flanging rolls at second and subsequent bending stations which will pass previously unbent workpiece edges without bending; and providing means including circuitry whereby such first and subsequent station bending-rolls will flange alternate edge portions of a sheet metal workpiece and leave intermediate portions unflanged.

Briefly summarized, there is here provided a machine which utilizes two substantially conventional roll former machines assembled on opposite sides of a conveyor with their spindles projecting vertically upward in two aligned successions, the first succession being laterally inboard and the second succession being laterally outboard. The inboard rolls on both machines have flat upper surfaces immediately beneath the plane-of conveyance; sheet metal workpieces pass over these surfaces. Rolls on the outboard spindles have portions which project horizontally over upper surface portions of the spindle rolls; their overlapping engagement aids in driving metal blanks through the rolls. Mating surfaces on the forming rolls progressively bend opposite edge portions from flat to a 180 cleat bend. The spac ing of the two roll former machines is adjustable, with a common lateral drive. Thus the machine assembly accommodates varying widths of sheet metal blanks, previously cut to size and. having aligned notches in their opposite edges, as used in forming sections of rectangular ducts.

In order to form the cleat flangeson alternate edge portions only (for example, from the leading edge of the blank to the first set of V-notches, leaving the following portion unbent) the outboard forming rolls at the first bending station have mechanism to withdraw them laterally outboard responsive to the flow of workpiece blanks. At subsequent forming stations, each outboard roll has a horizontal slot at the plane of conveyance; through these slots pass previously unbent edge portions. Thus, intervening side edge portions, left un- 2 bent at the first bending station, will pass unbent through the horizontal slots of the outboard rolls at all successive forming stations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a flanging machine embodying the present invention andutilizing symmetrically arranged roll formermachines shown schematically.

FIG. 2 is a left side elevation, partly broken away, of the machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view thereof taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section takenalong line 44 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken along line 55 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a similar view taken along line 6-- 6 of FIG. 1. The phantom lines show the outboard roll withdrawn laterally, to pass the edge of a sheet metal workpiece.

FIG. 7 is a further enlarged view, partially schematic, of roll elements at line 77 of FIG. 1, with a sheet metal edge passing through unbent.

FIG. 8 is a schematic presentation of the bending profiles of the forming rolls.

FIG. 9 is a schematic wiring diagram for controlling the second station rolls of .FIG. 6.

FIG. -10 is a perspective sketch of a sheet metal workpiece whose alternate edge portions areto be flanged by the machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An adjustable width progressive flanging machine, embodying the present invention and particularly designed for forming cleats on the vertical edges of sheet metal duct sections, is illustrated in the drawings and described hereafter. It employs a rectangular welded base frame generally designated a, best seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, whose elevated horizontal frame portion consists of four deep channel beams, two being the laterally extendingend beams 10 and two being the side beams 11. Spanning and resting on the side beams 11 are a pair of hollow rectangular former-machine support beams 12, best seen in FIG. 2. On these, pairs of lower fixed ways 13 are keyed to and support sliding upper ways 14 beneath a laterally adjustable roll former machine generally designated 15 shown at the right side of FIG. 3. A similar machine, fixedly supported in the same manner, is referred to as the left roll formermachine' generally designated 16. The roll former machines l5, 16 are conventional in their basic construction, except as hereinafter described. However, they are mounted unconventionally, each being rotated outward and downward from an intermediate plane of symmetry, so that their spindles and vertical and their portions outboard of the machine frames project upward.

A conveyor bed is provided in the following manner. Projecting upwardly from the rectangular support beams 12 are short columns or standards 18, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. Their upper ends mount a horizontal weldedconveyor frame whose lateral-extending front end rear members 20 extend the width between the roll former machines 15, 16 at substantially their narrowest spacing, as shown in FIG. 1. The laterally extending frame members 20 are connected by four broad inverted longitudinal channels 21, which provide support for and accommodate conveyor belts as hereinafter described. The upper surfaces'of such belts provide a plane of reference b along which sheet metal blanks are to be conveyed, in the direction shown by the arrows of FIGS. 1 and 2.

At the front edge of the machine (shown to the left of FIG. 2) short downward-extending stub beams 22 are welded to the undersurface of the forward lateral beam 20. Outward projecting stub beams 23 are welded to these, and to the standards 18 at the aft end of the machine, shown at the right of FIG. 2. On the stub beams 23, pillow blocks 24 are mounted, to support lateral conveyor belt shafts 25 at the forward and aft ends of the conveyor bed described, at about the midheight of the lateral beams 20. On the shafts 25 are mounted belt pulleys 26, linearly aligned with the vinverted channels 21 and of about the same depth. Belts 27 are mounted on these, to slide along their upper surfaces. The belts 27 are narrower than the inner dimension of the channels 21; they are accommodated within their undersides and supported by rolls 28 at about the channel midpoints, as shown in FIG. 2. Conventional belt-tensioning means may be included in the conveyor belts and also in the drive belts hereinafter referred to.

The conveyor belts 27 are driven as follows: A sheave 30 mounted on the conveyor belt shaft 25 at the aft end of the machine, shown to the right of FIG. 2, is beltdriven by a corresponding sheave 31 on a lower horizontal shaft 32 which'leads to the left side of the machine as seen in FIG. 3. There a corresponding sheave v 33 is belt-driven from a sheave 34 on the laterally extending principal drive shaft 35 which powers the roll former machines 15, 16.

The basic power unit of the machine is an electrical motor 37 which drives a gear reducer 38, both mounted on lower members of the base frame a. From the gear reducer 38, power is supplied through a chain drive to a flywheel 39 on the left end of the shaft 35.

The shaft 35'is supported in pillow blocks 41 secured onto the side beams '1 l of the'frarne a. The greater part of its length is referred to as the splined length 42 this bevel gear 50 at the lower end of a transfer shaft 51 bearing a final drive gear 52 for the roll former machine 16.

The power supply to the laterally adjustable roll former machine is similar, and the parts are given the same numbers except as follows: Instead of a collar portion 48 secured ontothe shaft 35, a spline collar 53 drives the bevel gear 49 on the spline portion 42 of the shaft 35. Conventional retainers are provided to secure the collar portion 48 and spline collar 53 to the pillow blocks 47 attached to the' guide plates 46 between each of the machines 15, 16.

As noted heretofore, each of the roll former machines 15, I6 rests on upper ways 14, supported on the lower ways 13 which in turn are supported by the rect angular support beams 12. The laterally adjustable roll former machine 15 is positionable by relative sliding of its way 14, with the spline collar 53 moving along the splines 42 of the drive shaft 35. To achieve lateral positioning, adjustable traversing mechanism is provided as best seen in FIG. 3. inwardly adjacent to the forward and aft channel beams 10 are lead screws 55, supported by spaced apart pillow blocks 56and extended to the right side of the machine. Each lead screw 55 has an outward shaft extension 57 hearing a sprocket 58. A chain drive 59 connects the sprockets 58 at the forward and aft ends of the frame'a to a traversing motor 60, being an electric motor of the reversible type, mounted on the lower portion of the frame a; the controls for this motor are conventional and are not shown.

FIG. 2 shows a supporting bracket 63 for the pillow block 56 at the inner end of the lead screw 55 at the inlet end of the machine, shown to the left. The corresponding structure and mechanism at the other end of the machine is omitted from that view, to avoid obscuring the other mechanism there shown.

Beneath the lowermost frame member of the laterally adjustable machine 15, as hereafter described, is a downwardly projecting traversing plate 61 from which projects horizontally an internally'threaded traversing collar 62, to engage the lead screw 55. When the traversing motor 60 is operated, the traversing plate 61 at each end of the laterally adjustable roll former machine 15 draw it to the left or right, thus positioning its form ing rolls at'the desired width from those of the fixed position roll former machine 16.

The roll former machines 15, 16 are of the type having frames comprising principally the lowerhorizontal plate frame member 45 heretofore mentioned and an upper fixed plate frame member 66, held parallel by conventional spacing bolts, not shown. Affixed to the inward edges of the fixed plate frame members 45, 66 are pillow blocks 67 which hold the transfer shafts 51, so that the final drive gears 52 mesh with the gear drive trains,'hereinafter described, of the two machines 15,

16. Each has a first succession of geared roll spindles I 68 in an inboard fixed linear alignment; the gears 69 thereof mesh with spur gears 70 on an offset line of shafts 71, as best seen in FIG. 6, to form the power drive train.

Circular rods 72 best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6 extend horizontally outboard from the lower and upper frame members 45, 66 to the-upper and lower .head rails 73. Between the plates 45, 66 and the head rails 73, upper and lower concavedged chocks 74 are slidably mounted, so that they may move a short distance outward, limited by the head rails 73. At an ordinary roll forming station (not those shown in FIGS. 5 and 6) the laterally outward movement of checks 74 on the rods 72 is resisted by cupped spring washers or otherconventional spring means, not shown.

Under the urging of such spring means, the upper and lower chocks 74 are biased laterally inward. A second succession of vertical spindles 76, mounted in bearings in these chocks, are thus urged into a second linear alignment outboard of the fixed linear alignment of the first succession of spindles 68. Gears 77 on the second succession of spindles 76 engage and are driven by the inboard spindle gears 69.

Except at'the initial machine station, shown at FIG.

5, both successions of spindles 68, 76 project upwardly above the upper fixed plate 66 and there have forming rolls mounted in mating relationship with each other.

Progressive forming by such rolls is familiar. Here bending is initiated at the second roll station. Referring toFIG. 6, onthe upward projection of the-inboard spindle68 is mounted the first of the laterally inboard succession of bending rolls generally designated 78. Each roll in this succession has a horizontal upper surface 79 immediately beneath the plane of reference b and a :forming surface 80, which at the station illustrated may slope at from horizontal. The rolls of this inboard succession are referred to as the mating rolls 78. Cooperating with them are the outboard succession of bendingrolls generally designated 81. The outboard second station roll illustrated in FIG. 6 is referred to as a bendinitiating roll82. It has a flange-like horizontal surface '83 overhanging the plane of reference b; downwardly initiating roll 82 at the second station of the machine laterally outward, as shown in the phantom lines in "FIG. 6; the lateral travel provided is sufficient to clear the edge of such a sheet metal workpiece. At said second station of the machine, called its bend-initiating station, the head rails 73 mount outward-extending spacers 85 to which is bolted a vertical plate 86. A solenoid 87, whose shaft 88 extends through the plate 86, terminates in a clevis fitting 89 which grasps a bracket 90 on the outboard side of a vertical plate 91 affixed to the outer edges of the sliding upper and lower chocks 74. Hence when the solenoids 87 at the left and right sides of the machine are actuated, the chocks 74 will withdraw thespindles 76 on which the bend-initiating rolls 82 are mounted, outboard to the phantom line position of FIG. 6.

At the bending stations following the bend-initiating station illustrated in FIG. 6, the rolls remain in position in their respective successions. Their forming surfaces are 50 developed, as is conventional, to effect the progression of forming shown in FIG. 8, where the degree of bend at each station is indicated. At the final forming station 12, shown at the left of FIG. 3, the inboard roll '78is preferably mounted slidably on its shaft, to be urged upward under the force of a compression spring 92 to-set the cleat flange precisely parallel to the workpiece from which it is bent.

At all forming .stations subsequent to the bendinitiating station shown in FIG. 6, the outboard flanging rolls 8.1 have slots 93 extending inwardly to their roll surfaces toward their axes of rotation, and coincident with the plane of reference b. Thus the slot 93 shown in FIG. 7 is immediately beneath the overhanging flange 83 and it is of a depth greater than the thickness of the workpiece d. Such slots 93 in each outboard roll '81 at the third and subsequent machine stations allow previously unbent edges of the workpiece d to pass through unbent, as will be described subsequently.

The overlapping of the'rolls'8l on the second succession of spindles, over the horizontal upper surfaces 79 of the rolls 78 on the first, or inboard, succession of spindles, has been found to exert an even driving force on both edges of such a sheet metal workpiece a, sufficient to propel it evenly. The conveyor belts 27 steady the workpieces, as well as move them. Soft finned rubber rolls 95, best seen in FIG. 1, areheld by a cross shaft 96 inpillowblocks 97 on brackets 98 at the forward end of the machine, shown to the left of FIG. 2; and similar rolls may be used elsewhere as desired to yieldably hold workpieces on the driving belts 27. The finned rolls are sufficiently flexible to permit upwardly formed flanges on the workpieces d, as illustrated in FIG. 10, to pass therebeneath.

A further driving force is provided at the first machine station, shown in detail at FIG. '5. At this station, any irregularities in the edges of the sheet metal workpieces are rolled to flatness in the planeb. Thus, on top of the spindle 68 of the inboard succession is mounted a lower roll 100 having a horizontal resisting surface 101 immediately below the plane of reference b. The second succession spindle 76 bears a bevel gear 102 which meshes with a similar bevel gear 103 mounted on a short outward shaft 104 supported on a bearing 105 in the vertical leg of an inverted L-shaped bracket 106. An upward-extending chain drive 107 transfersrotation of the shaft 104 to an upper parallel shaft 108 mounted in pillow blocks 109 on top of the bracket 106. On the inner end of the shaft 108 is mounted a drive roll 110- whose knurled cylindrical surface 111 rotates to engage workpiece edges and flatten any irregularities therein to planarity against the top surface 101 of the lower roll 100.

Circuitry for withdrawing left and rightoutboard bend-initiating rolls82 to the dashedline positon of FIG. 6 is shown schematically in FIG. 9'. Solenoids 87, normally de-energized, position these rolls laterally inward in position to initiate bending of the edges of sheet metal workpieces. The solenoids 87 are connected, in parallel with each other, in the 115 volt circuit of FIG. 9 in series with two switches: a limit switch 115 (shown in the workpiece flow path on FIG. 1 and designated in FIG. 9 as LS l), positioned several inches beyond the bend-initiating second station and closed when a workpiece passes over it; and a relay-operated normally closed switch 116.

The 13 volt d.c. circuit elements which operate to open the relay switch 116 are shown schematically within the area of FIG. 9 outlined in dashed lines. A photocell detector generally designated 1 17, consisting of a light source and a pick-up, is positioned near the beginning of the flow path of workpieces to span the plane of reference b on the line along which the notched. edges of workpieces will pass. In FIGS. 1 and 2 it is shown along the left edge immediately in advance of the second station. Notch-detection signals from the photocell detector 1.17 are amplified by the amplifier 118 and fed into an alternate countergenerally-designated 119. The counter 119 includes conventional electronic circuitry by which first or odd-numbered signals do not pass out of it, but second oreven-numbered signals are passed, proceeding ultimately to the relay switch 116. Such second signals pass through a time circuit, designated 120, to delay them'for a short interval equal to the time required for a workpiece notch to travel from the photocell detector 117 to the bendinitiating roll 82. After time delay, the signal passes through a conventional pulse width control circuit 121, and then to the relay-operated switch 116. The pulse width control 121 fixes the time period during which the signal energizes the relay 1 16; this time may be set to correspond with a length of travel less than the shortest edge portion to be flanged.

The alternate counterl 19 includes reset circuitry 123 operated by a limit switch 122 designated LS 2,

which, as shown in FIG. 1, is affixed near the beginning of the path of conveyance and is closed by the passing of a workpiece as it starts into the rolls. Referring to the flow path shown in FIG. 1, as the workpiece d is conveyed along it so that its leading edge passes the first station, the reset limit switch 122 will close, operating the reset circuit 123 to eliminate unused pulses (such as that from a third notch of a workpiece d).

FlG.. shows a typical sheet metal workpiece d whose width equals the length of a rectangular duct section to be formed. End notches e at kits leading and trailing edges f, 3 have served to narrow these sufficiently to pass inwardly of the rolls on the outboard succession'76 of spindles of the roll machines 15, 16. Their lateral edges are divided by three pairs of V- notchesh, the pairs being blanked in opposite edges to indicate lines j along which the workpiece d will subsequently be bent at90. The first pair of notches 11 mark the end of initial portions k of the blank lateral edges; these initial portions k are to be bent along the phantom lines to form cleat flanges. Extending between the first and second V-notches h are second lateral edge portions m, which are not to be bent. The next succeeding edge portions n are to be flanged to the third set of V-notches h; the final lateral edge portions p are to remain unbent.

Returning to the operation of the circuitry of FIG. 9: After the workpiece d has started through the bendinitiating outboard second station rolls 82, but before the first-V-notch h has reached them, the limit switch LS 1 closes to energize the solenoids 87 and withdraw the bend-initiating rolls 82 to the dashed line portion of FlG. 6. Since the bending of the edge portion k has already been initiated, the remainder of this portion will continue to be bent; it will pass under the sloping forming surfaces 84 of the rolls 81 at the third and subsequent stations and be bent as shown in FIG. 8. This is not the case, however, as to the edge portion in followthe first V-notches it; since the bend-initiating rolls 82 have been withdrawn before the edge portions m have been reached, they will remain planar. Thus they will pass unbent through the slots 93 of the rolls 81 at the third and subsequent forming stations, as seen in FIG. 7.

Meantime, the photocell detector 117 haspassed its first pulse of light through the first V-notch h, and this has been counted by the alternate counter l19.'When bend-initiating rolls 82 thus return inward at the second V-notches h, to initiate downward bending of the third edge portion m. At the end of the timed signal so operating on the relay switch 116, it is again deenergized, and returns to its normally closed position, closing the 115 v. circuit to the solenoids 87 and again withdrawing the bend-initiating rolls 82 to the FlG. 6 dashed line position before the third V-notch 12 reaches them. Thus, the final edge portions p, which follow the third V-notches 11, will remain planar like the second edge portions m, passing unbent through the slots 93 of all the rolls 81 at the subsequent bending stations. The count of the third V-notch h by the counter 119 will not be utilized, and will be cancelled by the reset circuit 123 when the next workpiece commences to flow through the machine and closes LS 2.

Various modifications will suggest themselves. For example, to form L-shaped duct pieces, no counting time-delay or pulse width circuitry would be needed; also, for certain types of workpieces different bendinitiation mechanism might be utilized.

1. For use at a forming station of a sheet metal edge forming machine, to further form blank edge portions previously bent away from a plane of reference or to pass previously unbent edge portions,

the invention comprising I a left pair and a right pair of flanging rolls, each pair being geared to rotate in opposite senses and comprising an inboard roll mounted on top of a vertical shaft and having a peripheral forming surface and a horizontal upper surface immediately below such plane of reference, and

an outboard roll having means to secure to a vertical axis of rotation and having aforming surface mating with that of said inboard roll, the outboard roll further including an overhanging flange portion having a horizontal annular under surface projecting over the upper surface of the inboard roll immediately above the plane of reference, further including an annular horizontal slot coincident with the plane of reference, extending inward toward the roll axis of rotation and separating the overhanging flange portion from the forming surface,

whereby on driving said left and right pairs of rolls symmetrically, those opposite edge portions of such a blank previously bent away from the plane of reference will be engaged and formed between the forming surfaces of each pair of rolls while previously unbent edge portions will pass unbent through the horizontal slots of the outboard rolls.

blank out of the plane of reference and leave others of its edge portions unbent, and

power train means to drive the left pairs of rolls of said machine symmetrically with the right pairs,

whereby passages of the opposed blank margins between the overhangs of the outer roll flanges and the upper surfaces of the contra-rotating inner rolls will propel the blank through the machine.

3. A flanging machine as defined in claim 2, further having sensing means, responsive to movement of such a blank as it advances along such flow path, to operate such edge-bending means alternatively to bend an edge portion of such a blank and to leave an adjacent edge portion thereof unbent.

4. A flanging machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the said edge bending means in advance of said flanging roll and mating roll means comprises a bendinitiating roll mounted on an axis of rotation perpendicular to such plane of reference closely'adjacent to and outboard of such blank edge, the said bend-initiating roll having a bending surface portion extending from below to above such plane of reference, and a mating roll mounted inboard of the edge of such moving blank and having an upper surface parallel to and immediately' beneath the plane of reference. 5. A flanging machine as defined in claim 4, together with sensing means, responsive to movement of such blank as it advances along such flow path, to move and hold said bend-initiating roll inward into mating engagement with said mating roll means and alternately to withdraw said bend-initiating roll laterally outward therefrom. 6. A flanging machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the said advance edge-bending means comprises a first roll element having a vertical axis of rotation and an upper surface perpendicular thereto and immediately below the plane of reference, further having a forming surface tapering downward and outward from said upper surface, and

a second roll element having vertical axis of rotation adjacent to and laterally outward of the axis of the first roll element and having a flange-like surface overhanging the plane of reference and a forming surface tapering'inward and downward therefrom, together with means to establish the axis of said second roll element in an operating position spacedly adjacent to the axis of the first roll element with its flanged surface overlapping the upper surface of said first roll element, and alternatively in a non-operating posi- 'tion spaced laterally farther outward therefrom.

7. In the art of multi-station roll former machines of the type having a frame, a first succession of geared roll spindles mounted at the forming stations thereof in a fixed linear alignment and serving as part of a power drive train, said spindles having forming rolls mounted outboard of said frame, said type of machine further having a second succession of spindles adjacent and geared to the first succession and positionable in a second linear alignment and rolls mounted thereon in mat- LII ing relationship with the rolls on the first succession of spindles,

a flanging machine comprising bed means to establish a path of conveyance along a plane of reference,

a pair of such roll forming machines assembled substantially symmetrically and mounted along laterally opposite sides of the bed means in such positions that their frames are beneath such plane of reference and their spindles project vertically upward and such mating rolls thereon are positioned for forming substantially at the plane of reference, their first succession of spindles being laterally inboard and their second succession of spindles being laterally outboard,

the outboard mounted spindles at a station near the beginning of the path having means to bend the edges of a conveyed blank down from said plane of reference, together with means to withdraw such spindles at said station laterally outward from said second linear alignment, whereby selectively to avoid bending the edges of blanks conveyed past said station;

the rolls on each of the following laterally outboard spindles having means to pass, without'bending, blank edge portions which have not previously been bent from such plane of reference.

8. A flanging machine as defined in claim 7, further having sensing means, responsive to the advance of such a sheet metal blank along the path of the bed means, to control said means to withdraw.

9. For use in a progressive edge forming machine of a type in which a workpiece flow path is provided at a plane of reference between left and right side forming rolls,

initial edge bending means to selectively bend some edge portions of such ablank out of the plane of reference and to leave other edge portions unbent, comprising a left pair'and a right pair of flanging rolls, each pair being geared .to rotate in opposite senses and including I an inboard roll mounted in fixed lateral position on top of a vertical shaft and having a forming surface sloping outward from a horizontal upper surface immediately below such plane of reference, and

an outboard 'roll having a forming surface adapted to mate with that of theinboard roll and having an overhanging flange portion including a horizontal annular undersurface adapted to project over the upper surface of the inboard roll immediately above the plane of reference, said outboard roll further having means to secure to a vertical axis of rotation, and

means to move said axis of rotation from an engaging position in which the outboard roll forming surface mates with thatof the inboard roll and its overhanging flange projects over the upper surface thereof, laterally outward to a non-engaging position,

whereby on actuating said means to move said axis outboard, a sheet metal blank may pass said rolls with its edge portion unbent,

10. In the art of multi-station roll former machines of the type having a frame, a first succession of geared roll spindles mounted at the forming stations thereof in a fixed linear alignment and serving as part of a power drive train, said spindles having forming rolls mounted outboard of said frame, said type of machine further having a second succession of spindles adjacent and geared to the first succession and positionable in a second linear alignment and having rolls mounted thereon in mating relationship with the rolls on the first succession of spindles,

an adjustable width flanging machine comprising movable bed means for conveying sheet metal blanks in a path along a plane of reference,

a pair of such roll forming machines assembled substantially symmetrically and mounted along laterally opposite sides of the bed means in such positions that their frames are beneath such plane of 15 reference and their spindles project vertically up- 1 ward and such mating rolls thereon are positioned for forming substantially at the plane of reference, their first succession of spindles being laterally inboard and their second succession of spindkes being laterally outboard,

each of the roll former machines have a vertical drive shaft extending downward,

one of said machines having a laterally adjustable mounting means, together with a powered drive shaft extending laterally between said pair of machines, and

' 90 drive means interconnecting the lateral drive 7 shaft with the vertical drive shafts of both the roll former machines, the said 90 drive means to the laterally adjustably mounted roll former machine being slidable along said lateral shaft.

11. In the art of multi-station roll former machines of a machine for driving a sheet metal blank having a pre-flanged lateral-extending edge by engaging its opposite side edges and simultaneously flanging said edges, comprising bed means to support sheet metal blanks for conveyance along a plane of reference,

a pair of such roll forming machines assembled substantially symmetrically and mounted along laterally opposite sides of the bed means in such positions that their frames are beneath such plane of reference and their spindles project vertically upward and such mating rolls thereon are positioned for forming substantially at the plane of reference, their first succession of spindles being laterally inboard and their second succession of spindles being laterally outboard,

such forming rolls on such first succession of spindles having horizontal upper surface portions immediately below such plane of reference,

such forming rolls on such second succession of spindles having horizontal surface portions projecting over said horizontal upper surface portions of said inboard spindle rolls immediately above said plane of reference, and I means to drive said pair of roll forming machines simultaneously,

whereby both side edges of such a sheet metal blank will be simultaneously engaged between said surface portions of said rolls and thereby driven along the bed means.

12. A machine as defined in claim 1 1, further characterized in that each of such roll forming machines has, in advance of its forming stations,

an initial edge-flattening and driving station having an inboard spindle aligned 'with such first succession and including a roll having a horizontal upper surface portion immediately below, such plane of reference, further having at said station a horizontal outboard spindle above said plane, an upper drive roll thereon, and drive means thereto overlaying the horizontal upper surface portion of said roll on said inboard spindle. 

1. For use at a forming station of a sheet metal edge forming machine, to further form blank edge portions previously bent away from a plane of reference or to pass previously unbent edge portions, the invention comprising a left pair and a right pair of flanging rolls, each pair being geared to rotate in opposite senses and comprising an inboard roll mounted on top of a vertical shaft and having a peripheral forming surface and a horizontal upper surface immediately below such plane of reference, and an outboard roll having means to secure to a vertical axis of rotation and having a forming surface mating with that of said inboard roll, the outboard roll further including an overhanging flange portion having a horizontal annular under surface projecting over the upper surface of the inboard roll immediately above the plane of reference, further including an annular horizontal slot coincident with the plane of reference, extending inward toward the roll axis of rotation and separating the overhanging flange portion from the forming surface, whereby on driving said left and right pairs of rolls symmetrically, those opposite edge portions of such a blank previously bent away from the plane of reference will be engaged and formed between the forming surfaces of each pair of rolls while previously unbent edge portIons will pass unbent through the horizontal slots of the outboard rolls.
 2. An edge forming machine for sheet metal blanks whose edges are divided by notches into edge portions, comprising a succession of left and right pairs of flanging rolls as defined in claim 1, having forming surfaces adapted for progressive forming, means supporting said succession of pairs of rolls along a flow path coincident with said plane of reference, initial edge bending means along said path in advance of said succession of pairs of flanging rolls, means controlling said initial edge bending means to selectively bend some edge portions of such a blank out of the plane of reference and leave others of its edge portions unbent, and power train means to drive the left pairs of rolls of said machine symmetrically with the right pairs, whereby passages of the opposed blank margins between the overhangs of the outer roll flanges and the upper surfaces of the contra-rotating inner rolls will propel the blank through the machine.
 3. A flanging machine as defined in claim 2, further having sensing means, responsive to movement of such a blank as it advances along such flow path, to operate such edge-bending means alternatively to bend an edge portion of such a blank and to leave an adjacent edge portion thereof unbent.
 4. A flanging machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the said edge bending means in advance of said flanging roll and mating roll means comprises a bend-initiating roll mounted on an axis of rotation perpendicular to such plane of reference closely adjacent to and outboard of such blank edge, the said bend-initiating roll having a bending surface portion extending from below to above such plane of reference, and a mating roll mounted inboard of the edge of such moving blank and having an upper surface parallel to and immediately beneath the plane of reference.
 5. A flanging machine as defined in claim 4, together with sensing means, responsive to movement of such blank as it advances along such flow path, to move and hold said bend-initiating roll inward into mating engagement with said mating roll means and alternately to withdraw said bend-initiating roll laterally outward therefrom.
 6. A flanging machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the said advance edge-bending means comprises a first roll element having a vertical axis of rotation and an upper surface perpendicular thereto and immediately below the plane of reference, further having a forming surface tapering downward and outward from said upper surface, and a second roll element having vertical axis of rotation adjacent to and laterally outward of the axis of the first roll element and having a flange-like surface overhanging the plane of reference and a forming surface tapering inward and downward therefrom, together with means to establish the axis of said second roll element in an operating position spacedly adjacent to the axis of the first roll element with its flanged surface overlapping the upper surface of said first roll element, and alternatively in a non-operating position spaced laterally farther outward therefrom.
 7. In the art of multi-station roll former machines of the type having a frame, a first succession of geared roll spindles mounted at the forming stations thereof in a fixed linear alignment and serving as part of a power drive train, said spindles having forming rolls mounted outboard of said frame, said type of machine further having a second succession of spindles adjacent and geared to the first succession and positionable in a second linear alignment and rolls mounted thereon in mating relationship with the rolls on the first succession of spindles, a flanging machine comprising bed means to establish a path of conveyance along a plane of reference, a pair of such roll forming machines assembled substantially symmetrically and mounted along laterally opposite sides of the bed means in such positions tHat their frames are beneath such plane of reference and their spindles project vertically upward and such mating rolls thereon are positioned for forming substantially at the plane of reference, their first succession of spindles being laterally inboard and their second succession of spindles being laterally outboard, the outboard mounted spindles at a station near the beginning of the path having means to bend the edges of a conveyed blank down from said plane of reference, together with means to withdraw such spindles at said station laterally outward from said second linear alignment, whereby selectively to avoid bending the edges of blanks conveyed past said station, the rolls on each of the following laterally outboard spindles having means to pass, without bending, blank edge portions which have not previously been bent from such plane of reference.
 8. A flanging machine as defined in claim 7, further having sensing means, responsive to the advance of such a sheet metal blank along the path of the bed means, to control said means to withdraw.
 9. For use in a progressive edge forming machine of a type in which a workpiece flow path is provided at a plane of reference between left and right side forming rolls, initial edge bending means to selectively bend some edge portions of such a blank out of the plane of reference and to leave other edge portions unbent, comprising a left pair and a right pair of flanging rolls, each pair being geared to rotate in opposite senses and including an inboard roll mounted in fixed lateral position on top of a vertical shaft and having a forming surface sloping outward from a horizontal upper surface immediately below such plane of reference, and an outboard roll having a forming surface adapted to mate with that of the inboard roll and having an overhanging flange portion including a horizontal annular undersurface adapted to project over the upper surface of the inboard roll immediately above the plane of reference, said outboard roll further having means to secure to a vertical axis of rotation, and means to move said axis of rotation from an engaging position in which the outboard roll forming surface mates with that of the inboard roll and its overhanging flange projects over the upper surface thereof, laterally outward to a non-engaging position, whereby on actuating said means to move said axis outboard, a sheet metal blank may pass said rolls with its edge portion unbent.
 10. In the art of multi-station roll former machines of the type having a frame, a first succession of geared roll spindles mounted at the forming stations thereof in a fixed linear alignment and serving as part of a power drive train, said spindles having forming rolls mounted outboard of said frame, said type of machine further having a second succession of spindles adjacent and geared to the first succession and positionable in a second linear alignment and having rolls mounted thereon in mating relationship with the rolls on the first succession of spindles, an adjustable width flanging machine comprising movable bed means for conveying sheet metal blanks in a path along a plane of reference, a pair of such roll forming machines assembled substantially symmetrically and mounted along laterally opposite sides of the bed means in such positions that their frames are beneath such plane of reference and their spindles project vertically upward and such mating rolls thereon are positioned for forming substantially at the plane of reference, their first succession of spindles being laterally inboard and their second succession of spindkes being laterally outboard, each of the roll former machines have a vertical drive shaft extending downward, one of said machines having a laterally adjustable mounting means, together with a powered drive shaft extending laterally between said pair of machines, and 90* drive means interconnecting the lateral drive shaft with the vertical drive shafts of both the roll former machines, the said 90* drive means to the laterally adjustably mounted roll former machine being slidable along said lateral shaft.
 11. In the art of multi-station roll former machines of the type having a frame, a first succession of geared roll spindles mounted at the forming stations thereof in a fixed linear alignment and serving as parts of a power drive train, said spindles having rolls driven thereby and mounted outboard of said frame, said type of machine further having a second succession of spindles adjacent and geared to the first succession and driven by said drive train and positionable in a second linear alignment and having rolls associated therewith in mating relationship with the rolls on the first succession of spindles, a machine for driving a sheet metal blank having a pre-flanged lateral-extending edge by engaging its opposite side edges and simultaneously flanging said edges, comprising bed means to support sheet metal blanks for conveyance along a plane of reference, a pair of such roll forming machines assembled substantially symmetrically and mounted along laterally opposite sides of the bed means in such positions that their frames are beneath such plane of reference and their spindles project vertically upward and such mating rolls thereon are positioned for forming substantially at the plane of reference, their first succession of spindles being laterally inboard and their second succession of spindles being laterally outboard, such forming rolls on such first succession of spindles having horizontal upper surface portions immediately below such plane of reference, such forming rolls on such second succession of spindles having horizontal surface portions projecting over said horizontal upper surface portions of said inboard spindle rolls immediately above said plane of reference, and means to drive said pair of roll forming machines simultaneously, whereby both side edges of such a sheet metal blank will be simultaneously engaged between said surface portions of said rolls and thereby driven along the bed means.
 12. A machine as defined in claim 11, further characterized in that each of such roll forming machines has, in advance of its forming stations, an initial edge-flattening and driving station having an inboard spindle aligned with such first succession and including a roll having a horizontal upper surface portion immediately below such plane of reference, further having at said station a horizontal outboard spindle above said plane, an upper drive roll thereon, and 90* drive means thereto overlaying the horizontal upper surface portion of said roll on said inboard spindle. 